Radio-based electro-pneumatic control communications system
Patent 5681015 Issued on October 28, 1997. Estimated Expiration Date: 
December 20, 2016. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
December 20, 2016. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.Patent ReferencesRailroad communication system On-board integrated vehicle control and communication system Railroad telemetry and control systems Railroad telemetry and control systems Method and apparatus for remote control of a locomotive throttle controller Patent #: 5570284 InventorAssigneeApplicationNo. 771290 filed on 12/20/1996US Classes:246/187C, Control of vehicle from leading vehicle246/167R, CAB SIGNAL OR TRAIN CONTROL246/182B, Automatic vehicle-carried braking701/20Railway vehicle speed controlExaminersPrimary: Morano, S. JosephAttorney, Agent or FirmInternational ClassB61C 017/12AbstractA radio-based, Electro-Pneumatic (EP) rail car braking system supports both End-of-Train (EOT) and Distributed Power Control (DPC) communication systems. The EP rail car braking system operates within existing frequency allocations and meets operational reliability needs by adopting a hybrid, two-band communications scheme. The EP rail car braking system uses a broadcast band for transmitting commands to all cars in the train. Selected cars spaced through the train are designated as repeaters, and a predetermined number of cars are assigned to each repeater for form a group of cars that act as a Local Area Network (LAN). The cars in a group communicate with each other using a low power, spread spectrum band. In response to a command broadcast by a lead locomotive, cars in a group act on the command and transmit status information to their repeater car. The repeater car, in turn, sends back status messages to the lead locomotive on the broadcast band based on consolidation of data received from the cars in its group.Field of SearchTrain telegraphy or telephonySIGNALLING BETWEEN OCCUPANTS OF A TRAIN CAB SIGNAL OR TRAIN CONTROL Train defect Control of vehicle from leading vehicle Automatic vehicle-carried braking EXTERNAL CONDITION VEHICLE-MOUNTED INDICATOR OR ALARM Transmitter in another vehicle (e.g., emergency vehicle) | |
