Fresh water supply system for a railway vehicle

Abstract

A fresh water supply system for a railway vehicle has a fresh water tank, a feed line extending from the fresh water tank for fresh water consumers to be supplied, and a valve that is located within the feed line for metered dispensing of fresh water. The valve is disposed at a lower level than a fresh water outlet of the fresh water tank. A pressure sensor is disposed upstream of the valve and it has a signaling connection to an evaluation unit. Typical characteristic pressure values for the fresh water supply system are stored in the evaluation unit and the evaluation unit detects discrepancies between the characteristic pressure values and the pressure values supplied by the pressure sensor. From this, a fill level of the fresh water tank and/or a flow velocity of the fresh water are estimated.

1 - 6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . A fresh water supply system for a rail-borne vehicle, the system comprising:
 a fresh water tank having a fresh water outlet;   a supply line leading away from said fresh water tank for supplying a consumer with fresh water;   a valve in said supply line for dispensing fresh water through said valve, said valve being arranged at a lower level than said fresh water outlet of said fresh water tank;   a pressure sensor disposed upstream of said valve and configured to measure a pressure in said supply line upstream of said valve; and   an evaluating device connected to said pressure sensor for receiving measurement signals with pressure values;   said evaluating device storing pressure characteristic values that are typical for the fresh water supply system and determining deviations between the pressure characteristic values and the pressure values received from said pressure sensor and estimating therefrom at least one or both of a fill level of the fresh water tank or a flow rate of the fresh water.   
     
     
         8 . The fresh water supply system according to  claim 7 , wherein:
 said evaluating device is configured to determine whether said valve is open or closed;   said evaluating device is configured to determine from the pressure values received from said pressure sensor in case of an open valve the deviation of said values with respect to the pressure characteristic values for the fresh water supply system in the cleaned state; and   said evaluating device is configured to determine from the pressure values received from said pressure sensor in case of a closed valve the deviation of said values with respect to the pressure characteristic values for a completely filled fresh water tank.   
     
     
         9 . The fresh water supply system according to  claim 7 , wherein said pressure sensor is arranged directly and immediately upstream of said valve. 
     
     
         10 . The fresh water supply system according to  claim 7 , wherein said evaluating device is configured to calculate and output the fill level of said fresh water tank. 
     
     
         11 . The fresh water supply system according to  claim 7 , wherein said fresh water tank does not require dedicated fill level sensors. 
     
     
         12 . The fresh water supply system according to  claim 7 , wherein said evaluating device is configured to also function as a control device for said valve, and wherein said control device controls said valve such that, irrespective of a fill level of said fresh water tank, an amount of fresh water that is dispensed remains substantially uniform by varying a period of time that the valve remains open.