Brake control system for railroad trains

Abstract

Abstract AN ELECTRIC BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY TRAINS IN WHICH STRAIN SENSORS MONITOR BUFF AND DRAFT COUPLER FORCES EXISTING BETWEEN ADJACENT CARS IN THE TRAIN CONSIST TO ESTABLISH A BRAKE CONTROL SIGNAL AT THE TRAILING ONE OF THE CARS. THE ANALOG POLARITY SIGNAL PRODUCED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DEGREE AND CHARACTER OF COUPLER STRAIN ESTABLISHES CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE BRAKES, THE EFFECTIVENESS OF WHICH CONTROL IS VARIED BY A CONSEQUENT CHANGE IN COUPLER FORCE AS THE VEHICLE BRAKE CONTROLS ATTEMPT TO ARRIVE AT A CONDITION OF BRAKE EFFORT WHERE COUPLER FORCES ARE BALANCED. THE HEAD-END CAR IN THE TRAIN CONSIST ESTABLISHES THE REFERENCE RATE OF RETRADATION ON THE CONSIST TO WHICH THE TRAILING CAR BRAKE CONTROLS ADHERE. RATE FEEDBACK MEANS ON THE HEADEND CAR CONSTRAINS ITS BRAKE CONTROLS TO MAINTAIN A LINEAR AND REPEATABLE RETARDATION RATE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LEVEL OF BRAKE REQUEST SIGNAL. BLENDING OF FRICTION AND DYNAMIC BRAKE CONTROL IS OBTAINED ON THE HEAD-END CAR WITH OTHER VARIABLE DYNAMIC CONDITIONS EFFECTIVE ON EACH TRAILING CAR BEING INHERENTLY REFLECTED THROUGH THE BRAKE CONTROL SIGNAL PRODUCED BY COUPLER STRAIN WHEREBY EACH CAR IN THE TRAIN SHARES THE BRAKING RESPONSIBILITY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS PECULIAR TO THAT PARTICULAR CAR.

Inventors

• 👤 Ronald A Sarbach

Bibliographic Details