Rollback protection system and method

Abstract

A method for preventing rollback of a rail vehicle from a stopped condition, includes receiving a first signal indicative of the rail vehicle's location, and, in response to the first signal, selecting from a lookup table one of a first plurality of pre-determined values of a braking parameter and selecting from the lookup table one of a second plurality of pre-determined values of a tractive effort parameter. In response to an order for movement, the method includes applying brakes of the rail vehicle, according to the selected value of the braking parameter; establishing tractive effort of the rail vehicle, according to the selected value of the tractive effort parameter; and, then, releasing the brakes of the rail vehicle to establish motion of the rail vehicle from the stopped condition.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A system for controlling a rail vehicle, comprising:
 an off-board control unit that is configured for communication with an on-board transceiver, the on-board transceiver being mounted in the rail vehicle, the off-board control unit further configured to, in case the rail vehicle is stopped, receive a first signal indicative of a location of the rail vehicle and further configured to, in response to the indicated location of the rail vehicle matching a pre-defined list of rollback locations, send to the on-board transceiver a second signal indicative of a tractive effort parameter and a braking parameter, said parameters corresponding to at least the indicated location of the rail vehicle; and   the on-board transceiver, wherein the on-board transceiver is configured to adjust and monitor a tractive effort of the rail vehicle and to control applying brakes of the rail vehicle,, according to the braking parameter, until the monitored tractive effort at least matches the tractive effort parameter, is further configured to release the brakes after the monitored tractive effort matches the tractive effort parameter, and is further configured to, after releasing the brakes, monitor rail vehicle movement, compare the monitored movement to an ordered movement, and in response to a mismatch of the monitored movement and the ordered movement, transmit to the off-board control unit a third signal related to applying the brakes of the rail vehicle.   
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . A system as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the on-board transceiver is configured to monitor rail vehicle movement, to compare the monitored movement to an ordered movement, and to control application of emergency brakes in response to a mismatch of the monitored movement and the ordered movement. 
     
     
         5 . A system as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the off-board control unit is configured to set a braking parameter based on the indicated location of the rail vehicle, and the on-board transceiver is configured to control application of the emergency brakes according to the braking parameter. 
     
     
         6 . A system as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the on-board transceiver is configured to compare the monitored movement to the ordered movement on a time integral basis. 
     
     
         7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . A system as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the off-board control unit is configured to, in response to the third signal generated by the on-board transceiver, display an operator prompt and receive an operator input whether to apply the brakes. 
     
     
         9 . A system as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the off-board control unit is configured to set a braking parameter based on the indicated location of the rail vehicle, and to send a fourth signal for applying the brakes, wherein the fourth signal for applying the brakes includes the braking parameter. 
     
     
         10 . A system as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the off-board control unit is configured to monitor tractive effort of the rail vehicle, and to send the on-board transceiver a fourth signal for releasing the brakes, once the tractive effort of the rail vehicle matches or exceeds the tractive effort parameter. 
     
     
         11 . A system as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein the off-board control unit is configured to send the fourth signal for releasing the brakes, pursuant to a request received from the on-board transceiver. 
     
     
         12 . A system as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the off-board control unit is configured to send a fifth signal for establishing a rollback prevention mode, based on the indicated location of the rail vehicle matching the pre-defined list of rollback locations, and the on-board transceiver is configured to establish a rollback prevention mode on receipt of the fifth signal from the off-board control unit. 
     
     
         13 . A method for preventing rollback of a rail vehicle starting from a stopped condition, said method comprising:
 receiving in an off-board control unit a first signal indicative of the rail vehicle's location;   in response to the first signal, in the off-board control unit selecting by a computer algorithm one of a first plurality of pre-determined values of a braking parameter and selecting by a computer algorithm one of a second plurality of pre-determined values of a tractive effort parameter;   transmitting from the off-board control unit to an onboard transceiver of the rail vehicle a second signal ordering movement of the rail vehicle from the stopped condition, wherein the second signal comprises the selected value of the braking parameter for controlling application of brakes of the rail vehicle and the selected value of the tractive effort parameter for establishing tractive effort of the rail vehicle;   receiving the second signal at the onboard transceiver; and,   by the onboard transceiver, in response to the second signal: applying the brakes of the rail vehicle, according to the selected value of the braking parameter; establishing the tractive effort of the rail vehicle, according to the selected value of the tractive effort parameter; releasing the brakes of the rail vehicle to establish movement of the rail vehicle from the stopped condition;   by the onboard transceiver, after releasing the brakes, monitoring rail vehicle movement, comparing the monitored movement to an ordered movement, and in response to a mismatch of the monitored movement and the ordered movement, transmitting to the off-board control unit a third signal related to applying the brakes of the rail vehicle.   
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 13 , wherein the third signal is a request to the off-board control unit for permission to apply the brakes. 
     
     
         15 .- 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . A system for controlling a rail vehicle, said system comprising:
 an on-board transceiver mounted in the rail vehicle and operatively connected with at least one traction motor and at least one brake of the rail vehicle, said on-board transceiver configured to receive from an off-board control unit a first signal for establishing a rollback prevention mode, and further configured in said rollback prevention mode to receive from the off-board control unit a second signal indicative of a required tractive effort and a third signal indicative of a required braking force, to control maintaining the required braking force until attaining the required tractive effort, to control release of the braking force on attaining the required tractive effort, to monitor movement of the rail vehicle, to compare the monitored movement to an ordered movement, and to, in response to a mismatch of the monitored movement and the ordered movement, transmit to the off-board control unit a third signal related to applying the brakes of the rail vehicle.   
     
     
         18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . A system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the on-board transceiver is configured to compare the monitored movement to the ordered movement on a time integral basis. 
     
     
         20 . A system for controlling a rail vehicle, comprising:
 an off-board control unit that is configured to receive a first signal indicative of a location of the rail vehicle and to send, in response to the first signal, a second signal indicative of a minimum tractive effort parameter and a third signal indicative of a braking parameter; and   an on-board transceiver mounted in the rail vehicle, operatively connected with at least one traction motor and at least one brake of the rail vehicle, and configured to receive the second and third signals from the off-board control unit,   wherein the on-board transceiver is configured to control maintaining the brake output at or above a level of the braking parameter until the traction motor output at least matches a level of the minimum tractive effort parameter, is configured to release the brake output after the traction motor output matches the minimum tractive effort parameter, is configured to monitor rail vehicle movement, and is configured to, in response to a mismatch between the monitored movement and an ordered movement, transmit to the off-board control unit a third signal related to applying the brakes of the rail vehicle.