Car actuated inductive block control

Claim 1

A control system for a plurality of driverless vehicles which are intended to move in one direction along a defined path along which lengthwise elongated radiators are arranged end-to-end, each vehicle being moveable only in response to energization of a radiator to which it is adjacent, said path being divided into longitudinally adjacent blocks, each comprising a plurality of said radiators and each block intended to be occupied by only one vehicle at a time, the front end of one block being defined from the rear end of another longitudinally adjacent block by a boundary which a vehicle crosses is moving from said one block into said other block, said system being characterized by: A. there being at each boundary a boundary radiator group comprising 1. a transition radiator which extends across the boundary and a short distance into each of the blocks adjoining the boundary, 2. an exit radiator longitudinally adjacent to the transition radiator in the front end portion of the block behind the boundary, and 3. an entry radiator longitudinally adjacent to the transition radiator in the rear end portion of the block ahead of the boundary; B. a plurality of radiator energizing input units, one for each boundary, each connected with the transition radiator for its boundary to energize the same at any time; C. a plurality of bistable switch devices, one for each boundary, each comprising 1. a pair of input terminals that are adapted to receive control signals alternately, 2. means responsive to a control signal applied to one of said input terminals to effect connection of the entry radiator for its boundary with the input unit for its boundary to the exclusion of the adjacent exit radiator, and 3. means responsive to a control signal applied to the other of said input terminals to effect connection of the exit radiator for its boundary with the input unit for its boundary to the exclusion of the adjacent entry radiator; D. a plurality of vehicle passage detection means, one at each boundary, each of said detection means being responsive to passage of a vehicle across its boundary to produce a control signal; and E. means connecting the vehicle passage detection means at each boundary 1. with said one input terminal of the bistable switch device for its boundary, so that the entry radiator directly in front of a vehicle at a boundary is energized simultaneously with disconnection of its adjacent exit radiator from the input unit for said boundary, and 2. with the other input terminal of the bistable switch device for the next boundary to the rear, so that an exit radiator can be energized in consequence of a vehicle clearing the block directly in front of that exit radiator.