Railroad system and method for determining information about a railroad system

Abstract

A railroad system and a method for determining information about the railroad system that has at least one track which is formed from at least two rails, on which railroad vehicles move along the rails, having a device which is electrically connected to the two rails at a connecting point and injects an electric current into the rails. In order to allow information to be determined about the railroad system with little effort, in particular the location of a broken rail and/or the direction of travel of a railroad vehicle, a profile of the current or the corresponding profile of the effective track impedance is detected, while a railroad vehicle is approaching, passing, and moving away from the connecting point. At least one railroad system information item is derived on the basis of the profile.

1 . A railroad system, comprising: 
 a track formed of at least two rails configured to support railroad vehicles moving thereon;    a device electrically connected to said rails at a connecting point and configured to inject an electric current into said rails;    means associated with said device for detecting a profile of the current or a corresponding profile of an effective track impedance while a railroad vehicle is approaching said connecting point, passing said connecting point, and moving away from said connecting point; and    means associated with said detecting means for deriving at least one railroad system information item on the basis of the profile.    
   
   
       2 . The railroad system according to  claim 1 , wherein the railroad system information item is at least one of a state of the track and a direction of travel of the railroad vehicle.  
   
   
       3 . The railroad system according to  claim 2 , wherein said deriving means is configured to determine the state of the track state on the basis of noticeable rates of change of the profile.  
   
   
       4 . The railroad system according to  claim 3 , wherein changes are considered noticeable when the changes are outside a predetermined tolerance band.  
   
   
       5 . The railroad system according to  claim 3 , wherein changes are considered noticeable when the changes exceed a predetermined value within a predetermined time interval.  
   
   
       6 . The railroad system according to  claim 1 , wherein said deriving means is configured to determine a broken rail on the basis of the profile.  
   
   
       7 . The railroad system according to  claim 6 , wherein said deriving means is configured to determine a location of a break in the rail on the basis of the profile.  
   
   
       8 . The railroad system according to  claim 1 , wherein the profile in the area of the connecting point is set such that it has a substantially constant value as a maximum value, and the value is used as a reference value.  
   
   
       9 . The railroad system according to  claim 1 , wherein said rails are formed with an isolating abutment and said device is disposed in a vicinity of said isolating abutment.  
   
   
       10 . The railroad system according to  claim 2 , wherein said device is configured to transmit electrical current pulses with amplitudes via said rails, and the profile corresponds to the amplitudes of the current pulses in the form of an envelope curve.  
   
   
       11 . A method of determining information in a railroad system having a track formed with at least two rails and having railroad vehicles moving along the rails, the method which comprises: 
 providing a device with an electrical connection to a connecting point at the rails of the track;    injecting an electric current into the rails at the connecting point;    detecting a profile of the current, or a corresponding profile of an effective track impedance, while a railroad vehicle is approaching the connecting point, passing the connecting point, and moving away from the connecting point; and    deriving at least one railroad system information item on the basis of the profile.    
   
   
       12 . The method according to  claim 11 , which comprises determining a broken rail as the railroad system information item.  
   
   
       13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the railroad system information is at least one of a track state and a direction of travel of the railroad vehicle.  
   
   
       14 . The method according to  claim 13 , which comprises deriving the track state on a basis of noticeable rates of change of the profile.  
   
   
       15 . The method according to  claim 14 , which comprises characterizing changes as being noticeable when the changes are outside a predetermined tolerance band.  
   
   
       16 . The method according to  claim 15 , which comprises characterizing changes as being noticeable when the changes exceed a predetermined value within a predetermined time interval.  
   
   
       17 . The method according to  claim 12 , which comprises determining a location of a break in the broken rail on the basis of the profile.  
   
   
       18 . The method according to  claim 11 , which comprises setting the profile in the area of the connecting point to have a substantially constant value as a maximum value, and using the value as a reference value.  
   
   
       19 . The method according to  claim 11 , which comprises placing the device in an area of an isolating abutment of the rails.  
   
   
       20 . The method according to  claim 11 , which comprises transmitting with the device electrical current pulses via the rails, and defining an envelope curve as the profile corresponding to the amplitudes of the current pulses.