초록

A method and apparatus for determining railcar order in an ECP equipped train involving the inherent propagation delay of a pneumatic signal propagation in a brake air line as measured by each car and used to determine the car order in the train.

대표청구항 ▼

[ I claim:] [1.] A method of determining an order of railcars in a train behind a locomotive, wherein each of the railcars are linked to the locomotive by a pressurized brake pipe and a communication link, the method includes the steps of:determining a set brake pipe pressure at each of the railcars

[ I claim:] [1.] A method of determining an order of railcars in a train behind a locomotive, wherein each of the railcars are linked to the locomotive by a pressurized brake pipe and a communication link, the method includes the steps of:determining a set brake pipe pressure at each of the railcars;providing an air pressure change in the pressurized brake line to each of the railcars;sensing a pressure change in the pressurized brake line at each of the railcars, the sensed pressure change being the difference between the set brake pipe pressure and the air pressure change;generating responses based on the sensed pressure change at each of the railcars;sending the generated responses to the locomotive; andsorting the generated responses based on a time of receipt of the generated responses in order to determine the order of the railcars.